FIRST TIMED PRACTICES

As the bikes fired to life for the first time today, they were immediately greeting with a sloppy track to contend with. It was the 250B group to head out first and try to wear the track in for the all important second qualifying sessions that will come later today.

Mason Gonzales topped the B session ahead of fellow debutant Hardy Munoz. With 74 entrants for the class, many riders in the B class will fall on the borderline of making it into the motos.

The first A session seemed to find a bit more grip around the track as times were quickly dropping as the track began to dry out. Conditions are expected to get better as the day goes on and the track crew is working tirelessly to get the racing surface in solid condition.

Justin Cooper landed on top of the A group ahead of a surprising face in Carson Mumford. This round could provide some surprises for the fresh faces to the class as some of them had just raced the track a week ago. Mumford, however, did not race the Monster Energy AMA Amateur National Motocross championship this year at Loretta Lynn Ranch as he was already preparing to go pro months ago.

Our first look at three-time and defending Lucas Oil Pro Motocross champion Eli Tomac came when the 450A group headed out. By far the shock of the day thus far has been Cooper Webb who not only laid down a lap time three seconds faster than anyone, but his second fastest lap was over two seconds faster than anyone. Webb topped the time sheets from Marvin Musquin, Justin Barcia, and the aforementioned Tomac.

The 450B group was the last to hit the track in the morning sessions and they were led home by Justin Rodbell. Like the 250 class, a lot of riders in this B session will be working to fall above the fast-36 cut line to make it directly into the motos later today. The rest of the group will have to head to the Consolation Race to fight for the final four spots into the racing.

SECOND TIMED PRACTICES

Mason Gonzales once again led the second qualifying session in the 250B group though the track appears to have slowed down some. As the track weathers in, it has the potential to get much deeper like we see the track get during the amateur racing.

The final A group practice for the 250 class was initially led by Dylan Ferrandis as he was the first one to dip down to the 2:02’s. Then the session was red flagged when Kevin Moranz fell after the beach sweeper. The delay was even longer as track crews worked to dig out Nick Gaines’ bike that was stuck in the following corner.

Once practice got underway again, times appeared to remain fairly stagnant as riders were searching around for clean lines to take. Ferrandis would lower his time one final time to drop down to 2:00.222 and take the top time overall for the day.

Some work was put into the track between the 250A group and the 450A final practice and times began dropping quickly. Chase Sexton was the first to jump to the top of the board as the lap times were dropped below the two-minute mark.

Eli Tomac had some issues when he got stuck in the same hole that Nick Gaines was stuck in during the 250 class practice. He would eventually drag the bike free and continue on, but he would only manage to finish the session in seventh. Chase Sexton would hold on to the top spot from Cooper Webb, Zach Osborne, Adam Cianciarulo, and Justin Barcia.

“I feel good. The track is pretty muddy and technical but overall, I feel great,” said Sexton. “The bike’s awesome, it’s nice to have a little bit of power underneath me and this being my first race on a 450, I’m really excited. I couldn’t ask for a better way to start it off with fastest qualifier, but I got two motos coming ahead. Need to get a good start and run with the big boys. It’s going to be a fun time, the track is going to be technical, so I’m looking forward to two motos.”

Justin Rodbell once would top the 450B sessions laying down a 2:06.757 and put nearly four seconds between himself and the next rider in the session. That now wraps up qualifying with the consolation races still to run before we drop the gates.

250 CONSOLATION RACE

Brock Papi made amends for getting stuck in the mud during the second qualifying session to win the consolation race and stamp his ticket into the motos. He led home Brandon Yates, Ezra Hastings, and Curren Thurman to complete the field for the 250 class at the opener.

450 CONSOLATION RACE

Christopher Prebula grabbed the holeshot in the 450 consolation race and held the early lead from Tristan Lane. Adam Enticknap started just inside the top 10 and would work his way up to fourth as the white flag waved. Prebula would hold on for the win from Lane, Nick Fratz-Orr, and Enticknap.

250 MOTO 1

The first gate drop of the season saw Justin Cooper grab the holeshot before coughing it up to his teammate Shane McElrath. Then Dylan Ferrandis took over the lead to lead the first lap of the race. Hunter Lawrence had early troubles with a fall, taking nearly a full lap to get going again and dropping well behind the pack.

Jeremy Martin was up to fifth early on and went to work on Justin Cooper who had already slipped beyond RJ Hampshire. Martin made a quick move on Cooper and set sail after Hampshire and McElrath battling ahead of him.

Hampshire got around McElrath for second before the 10 minute mark and Martin was onto McElrath quickly as well. Ferrandis was unheeded out front as he continued to extend his lead while consistently setting faster lap times than those behind him. Martin made the move on McElrath to get into second by the halfway mark of the moto.

Justin Cooper ran into some issues as he dropped down the field back to 14^th around halfway and was suddenly mixed in with a mid-field battle between Brandon Hartranft, Cameron Mcadoo, and Nick Gaines.

Mason Gonzales was having a good ride during his pro debut battling with Mitchell Harrison and Alex Martin up inside the top 10. Alex Martin had a fall while battling with Carson Mumford early in the race but would pick up the pace into the second half to move back into the top 5.

Hampshire fell from second back to fourth as the race wound down allowing Jeremy Martin and McElrath back through. Mitchell Harrison was having a terrific debut with the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki team moving up into fifth late in the race around Alex Martin.

Then things went awry for Harrison as he nearly crashed trying to hold off Alex Martin for fifth and then stalled the bike. The bike then would not re-fire for nearly a whole lap as he was eventually lapped by Ferrandis before getting going again. Then another bad lap dropped him outside of the points.

Ferrandis put a clinic on at the front of the field as he cruised to the first moto win of the season leading home Jeremy Martin and RJ Hampshire on the podium.

“It’s been a while since I took a good start in outdoors,” said Ferrandis. “The conditions were tough on the start because it’s hard packed and you go 10 feet and you’re on the soft dirt…. All moto I just tried to save the bike because this humidity and this heat are hard on the engine. I didn’t know what to expect of my engine, so I tried to save the bike and I didn’t push really hard. I just tried to manage the gap.”

450 MOTO 1

The first 450 class moto of the season saw Joey Savatgy grab the holeshot before his teammate Fredrik Noren took the lead. Jason Anderson stole the lead away before the end of the first lap as Savatgy also moved around Noren to get back into second.

Cooper Webb was on the early charge as he moved up to third and was bringing Eli Tomac with him before Chase Sexton ripped past all of them and moved up to third behind Webb. Anderson began pulling out a big lead early.

Before long, the top five normalized a bit as Anderson continued to lead from Webb, Sexton, Tomac, and Zach Osborne with Adam Cianciarulo charging forward. Osborne was working on Tomac for fourth as they both began to reel in Sexton ahead of them again. Osborne made the pass stick after the commandments and went to work on Sexton.

Sexton fell while battling for third and dropped back to eighth. The crash promoted Osborne to third, Tomac to fourth, and Cianciarulo up to fifth. Nobody was close to matching Anderson’s early pace though as the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider continued to manage a 10 second gap out front.

Osborne closed the gap down on Webb with 10 minutes of the moto remaining and the two commenced in a battle. Tomac sat lurking behind them waiting for an opportunity to pounce if any mistakes were to occur. Osborne finally made the pass stick on Webb with seven minutes left and attention switched to if Tomac could reel in Webb.

Justin Barcia was on a maniacal charge as time winded down as he caught and passed Tomac before immediately applying pressure to Webb for third. Meanwhile, Marvin Musquin was closing up on Eli Tomac for the fifth position and passed him as the Frenchman was on the charge late.

Something was clearly amiss with Tomac who continued to drop back as Cianciarulo charged forward to move up into sixth. Tomac was falling off the pace but managed to collect himself for the last few laps and bring it home in seventh.

Jason Anderson held on for the win out front leading home Osborne and Barcia as Musquin was also able to pass Webb on the last lap of the race for fourth.

“Honestly, everyone thinks there was going to be huge change in my program because I’m not working with Aldon [Baker],” said Anderson. “At the end of the day, I needed a change of scenery. I’m working hard and doing motos the same way I would have done if I was still at the Baker’s Factory. I’m enjoying myself. I’ve been with Dean [Wilson], Jett Lawrence, and Hunter Lawrence, so that little bit of young guns and enthusiasm that they bring to the table makes my day really easy. I’m happy, I’m proud of myself, by at the same time I want to put that Rockstar Energy Husqvarna up there that second moto.”

250 MOTO 2

In the second 250 class moto, it was Shane McElrath grabbing the holeshot away from Hampshire and Justin Cooper early. Dylan Ferrandis came through in sixth at the end of the first lap as he had Alex Martin and Mitchell Harrison just ahead of him.

Before long, Ferrandis was already up into fourth and applying the pressure to his teammate Cooper for third ahead of him. He was bringing the Martin brothers of Alex and Jeremy along with him from behind as they settled into an early pace.

Ferrandis was able to make the pass stick on his teammate Cooper and was quickly onto the back of Hampshire and McElrath for the lead. Hampshire was trying to get away from Ferrandis and made a quick move on McElrath to take over the lead while Ferrandis quickly went to work on McElrath for second and made the pass stick a lap later.

Alex Martin was the next man to make a move as he moved around Cooper and then his brother Jeremy followed suit quickly as well. Cooper was quickly falling down the order as Cameron Mcadoo also worked his way around to move up to sixth.

Ferrandis moved around Hampshire for the lead before the halfway mark of the race as he would not be denied. The ride can even be looked at as more impressive as Ferrandis had never been to the Loretta Lynn Ranch before this race whereas most of his competitors had years of experience.

Jeremy Martin continued his march forward passing his brother Alex and then running down McElrath to pass up into third with just under 10 minutes left in the moto. Further back, Jett Lawrence was charging forward as well moving into seventh ahead of Cooper.

Alex Martin fell while running fifth and remounted still in the same spot but was suddenly under attack from Cameron Mcadoo. Martin seemed to respond well to the pressure though as he opened back up the gap to McAdoo behind him.

In the end, it was Dylan Ferrandis taking the win and the overall victory on the day with a dominant 1-1 performance. Hampshire would hold on for second and with it take second overall on the day beating Jeremy Martin who would come home third.

“It’s awesome. Perfect day,” said Ferrandis. “It was a little bit hard when you don’t ride for a long time and you never know where you are. But I did two good starts and had strong motos with a good setup on the bike… From today, I feel like we could go for the win every weekend. To have the perfect season, that would be a dream come true.”

450 MOTO 2

The holeshot in the final 450 class race of the day went to Zach Osborne but he quickly relinquished the lead to Adam Cianciarulo. AC led the first lap away from Osborne and Chase Sexton right in tow. Justin Barcia fell on the first lap and was down in 22^nd at the end of the first lap.

Jason Anderson was up in fourth early on while Eli Tomac made a quick pass on Cooper Webb to take over sixth. Cianciarulo crashed at the end of the second lap and severely damaged his bars which pulled him into the mechanics area and out of the moto.

The crash promoted Osborne to the lead and moved Anderson to second while Sexton still ran in third ahead of Eli Tomac. Marvin Musquin was trying to keep pace with the front group while Tomac found his way around Sexton for third.

The front four began to level out a bit as Osborne opened up a few second gap out front. Justin Barcia was making quick amends for his early fall as the Monster Energy Yamaha rider moved up into eighth before the halfway point.

Tomac was the first to move as he got around Anderson for second while Sexton was trying to pass him for third. Musquin and Blake Baggett were quietly sneaking back into the picture as well as the KTM riders were closing up on Sexton ahead of them.

Musquin made the pass on Sexton as the Red Bull KTM rider really seemed to find his stride in the second half of both motos on the day. Ahead of him, Tomac was starting to close the gap down quickly on Osborne for the lead as the race moved into its final 10 minutes of action.

The fire seemed to reignite in Sexton, however, as the Honda HRC rider moved back around Musquin and started putting the heat on Jason Anderson ahead of him. Musquin and Baggett were lurking behind them all the while, but the battle was close for third.

Anderson had a huge moment going into storyland and the near fall allowed Sexton to make the pass around him to go into third. But Blake Baggett was flying up from behind and was already right on the rear wheel of Sexton just moments later.

Osborne out front was having to deal with pressure from Tomac as the defending champion continued to try to close up on him as the two-lap board came out. A huge moment for Tomac before the ten commandments with a lap and a half to go appeared to be the dagger in his sails as Osborne extended his lead out front on the last lap.

Zach Osborne took his first career 450 class overall win along with his second ever race victory as he crossed the line in the second moto. Tomac would follow him through in second with Sexton holding on for third. Anderson crossed the line sixth to take second overall on the day over Tomac who rounded out the podium.

“I worked really hard to come back from my injury in February, and to be on this podium I’m blessed,” said Osborne. “I’m so grateful for the people putting this together and also the manufacturers for letting us go racing in very uncertain times.”